Seoul , South Korea -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- South Korea 's new defense minister said his country would respond with airstrikes if North Korea attacks it again , South Korean state media reported Friday . It is some of the strongest rhetoric since the conflict broke out late last month .

`` We will definitely air raid North Korea , '' Kim Kwan-jin said at his confirmation hearing when asked how the South would respond if struck again , according to the official Yonhap News Agency .

Kim was appointed defense minister last week amid growing tensions on the Korean peninsula following an exchange of gunfire between the two sides .

His comments reflect a potential shift in South Korea 's policy toward provocations from the North . Previously , South Korean President Lee Myung-bak warned of severe consequences if the North launched another attack , but declined to name specifics .

`` If the North commits any additional provocations against the South , we will make sure that it pays a dear price without fail , '' he said in a nationally televised address Monday .

Han Park , an expert on North Korea who has visited the country more than 50 times , called Kim 's comments `` an important development . ''

`` The use of airstrikes is quite significant , '' said Park , a professor at the University of Georgia and director of the school 's Center for the Study of Global Issues . `` Just sending bullets from South Korea is one thing but sending aircraft over North Korea is something else . ''

However , he cautioned that the ramped-up rhetoric is `` almost entirely for domestic consumption '' as the South deals with criticism over what some have called a weak response to the North 's November 23 shelling of South Korea 's Yeonpyeong Island . The attack killed four South Koreans -- two civilians and two military personnel -- and the South returned fire .

The country 's defense minister at the time , Kim Tae-young , resigned last week after the exchange of fire .

`` The climate is that the South Korean military did not respond strongly enough to the original attack , and that really led to the resignation of the defense minister , '' Park said . `` So the new candidate for the job is expected to show strong resolve and determination in the strongest terms possible . ''

Last month 's attack was the first direct artillery assault on South Korea since 1953 , when an armistice ended fighting .

The North accused the South of provoking the attack because shells from a South Korean military drill landed in the North 's territorial waters along the region 's tense maritime border in the Yellow Sea .

Kim Kwan-jin criticized the South 's response to the attack , saying Friday that military officials should have ordered immediate airstrikes after the shelling , according to Yonhap .

He also said the military missed intelligence pointing to a possible attack by the North .

Meanwhile Friday , the South made preparations to begin new live-fire drills along five islands in the Yellow Sea -- including Yeonpyeong -- in an effort to deter future provocations from the North , Yonhap reported . The move threatens to further stoke tensions with the North .

The live fire drills are a routine monthly exercise aimed at securing the safety of ships in the area , the South 's Joint Chiefs of Staff told CNN earlier this week . They were originally scheduled to begin Monday , but Yonhap reported that authorities have not determined the exact timing . One Joint Chiefs of Staff official was quoted by Yonhap as saying the South hopes to resume the drills `` as soon as possible . ''

North Korea previously warned that joint military drills between the United States and South Korea could lead to `` all-out war any time . ''

`` If the U.S. and the South Korean war-like forces fire even a shell into the inviolable land and territorial waters of the -LRB- Democratic People 's Republic of Korea -RRB- , they will have to pay dearly for this , '' the Korean Central News Agency reported .

The joint drills ended Tuesday .

CNN 's Sarah Aarthun contributed to this report .

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NEW : Expert says the threat is intended `` for domestic consumption ''

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The defense minister says `` we will definitely air raid North Korea , '' Yonhap reports

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Kim Kwan-jin was appointed defense minister amid growing tensions between the Koreas